


you, me and the fireflies

by keity



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mentioned Akaashi Keiji, Mentioned Bokuto Koutarou, happy birthday kuroo, mentioned tsukishima akiteru - Freeform, tsukki is alone, very very alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 13:02:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8579575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keity/pseuds/keity
Summary: How To Celebrate The Birthday of Someone Who Isn't Really There by Tsukishima Kei (ft. Fireflies)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Me: hmm, what should i do for Kuroo's birthday?  
> Brain: write an angsty birthday fic.  
> Me: why? i don't want my children to suffer-  
> Brain: yOU GOTTA
> 
> Happy birthday to the one and only, Kuroo Tetsurou.

* * *

 

**3:30PM**

Kei entered the mini-market and picked out what he needed. A carton of eggs, sugar and flour. He also added a container of strawberries to his basket. He had oil and milk at home, so he didn't need to buy any of that. That was all he needed from the groceries. He brought them to the counter and paid. He made his way out of the store, plastic bag in hand, and started the walk home.

**4:00PM**

Whisk the eggs. Add the sugar. Mix in the milk and sift the flour. Kei repeated these steps absent-mindedly. He had, after all, used this strawberry shortcake recipe countless times. Of course, only the last two times had he made the cake under the same conditions. The first few times he had made it,  _he_  had been here. With Kei. Tasting the batter and the frosting before it was ready to be tasted.  _He_ had gotten flour in his dark hair, and  _he_ had eaten one too many strawberries.

But now? Now  _he_ wasn't around anymore. 

And the thought of Tetsurou's absence still clawed at Kei's heart.

The memories floated around in his head. That one time the two of them had accidently set the electric mixer one setting too high and gotten batter everywhere. That one time that they had sliced the strawberries all in different sizes and the cake hadn't been even. There were many things that Kei once had thought was annoying. But now, he'd give almost anything to relive the memories. The sugary kisses that followed and the small panic when they realize that it was time to take the cake out, but their hands were too entangled in each other's hair.

He missed those moments much more than he cared to admit. 

**4:25PM**

The red of the strawberries reminded Kei of the Nekoma uniform that sometimes hung in his room when Tetsurou was over. Had Tetsurou's blood been this red? The blood that he had always told his team to keep flowing during games. Stupid, Tetsurou's blood was the same red as everyone else's blood. Kei cut the strawberries into thin slices and placed them on the cake, which he had cut in half and frosted. After the strawberries for the filling, the top half was placed back on and the whole cake frosted. Strawberries were placed on the top and then the whole cake disappeared into the fridge.

The rest of the Tsukishimas wouldn't ask about it. About the cake that sat in the fridge on the same day every year. And today, no one would ask either. No one needed to ask. They all knew what day it was.

**4:40PM**

Steam filled the bathroom. Kei was in the bathtub, knees to his chest. He couldn't see very clearly - but there wasn't any need to see anything, anyways. He could make out the different things in the bathroom, and by now, he knew what was what.

He missed him. A lot. When Keiji and Koutaro, who had called him up every few days, came down to Miyagi and asked him how he was, he had replied that he was fine, with the usual sharp remark. Koutaro , as usual, had been oblivious and believed him. Keiji, however, had sat Kei down and talked to him. For the first time since the funeral, Kei cried in front of someone.

He slid down so that the water enveloped him. It was okay to cry, Keiji had said to him. But was it? Was it really? He liked to wash his face in water or sink below the water when he felt like crying, because he could lie to himself. Were those tears streaming down his face? No, it was just the water he'd used to wash his face. And now, there weren't any tears either. He could make out the blurry shape of his feet in the water. The blurriness resembled his memories about the first few days after Tetsurou left. Nothing made sense.

**5:20PM**

Kei put the pen down, pulling his earphones off. It was no use trying to do homework. He felt some type of weight on his shoulders. He pulled his headphones off and climbed onto his bed, not bothering to get under the blanket. Maybe a nap would help him.

**6:50PM**

"Kei, dinner's ready," Akiteru's voice carried an air of worry. "Are you coming down?"

Kei grumbled nonchalantly, turning around. He had a cramp in his neck now. Great.

"I'm not hungry."

"Kei, I know tomorrow is-" Akiteru sighed. "Look, just come down and eat."

"I'll eat later."

A defeated sigh was all Kei heard before he drifted off again.

**9:45PM**

Kei sat under the stars, an empty bowl of rice next to him. Everyone was asleep now. It was almost time for Kei to leave, as well. He got up and brought the empty bowl inside, leaving it in the sink. He went to his room, next, and grabbed his phone and jacket. Slipping his jacket on and his phone into his pocket (which already had everything he needed in it), he ventured back into the kitchen and cut a chunk out of the cake. A neat section of the cake was placed in a box and carried out of the house in Kei's hands.

**11:30PM**

The train was quiet, only a few people on it.

"Dear, where are you going so late at night? You've been sitting there since I got on. Where are you headed?"

An old lady was sitting next to Kei.

"I'm visiting… a friend. In Tokyo."

The lady nodded, and Kei had never been more thankful for people who didn't pry.

**11:55PM**

His back to the train station, Kei walked in the dark, his body following the same route it took three times every year. His birthday, Tetsurou's birthday, and Christmas. Soon enough, the familiar gate loomed in front of him. Normally, people would find cemeteries to be a… depressing place. Dark, depressing, gloomy. Maybe Kei thought that too. But, for the time being, he liked to believe that the cemetery wasn't such a bad place. It was, after all, the closest he could get to being with Tetsurou again.

**12:05AM**

It stood out amidst the older, dark gray gravestones. Tetsurou's was newer, a white marble head stone that was only a few years old. Kei  set down the cake besides the grave and sat down, leaning against it. All around them were millions of fireflies, flying around in the sky. They lit up the night, making the scene all a bit more tranquil to Kei. The moon and its stars shone down on them, and Kei remembered the many nights that his Karasuno team would spend with Nekoma on training camps. Kei and Tetsurou would always stay up for "blocking practice" that would end with them laying on grass and star gazing. Memories of the black-haired boy still tugged at Kei's heart, and it hurt him to know that he could never experience those memories and feelings of elated joy again.

But there wasn't any point thinking about the past now. Tetsurou was gone and Kei would have to move on soon.

He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a candle and matchbox. He placed the candle onto the slice of cake and lit the match, setting fire to the wick of the candle.

"It's just you, me and the fireflies. Happy birthday, Tetsu."

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't know how to fill in the middle section wHELP


End file.
